Advanced E-Manufacturing Model

E -manufacturing is an advanced manufacturing that takes advantage of the information and Internet technologies to integrate all functional components of a factory. An e-manufacturing hierarchy was presented by the international SEMATECH (ISMT). However, this ISMT e-manufacturing model does not consider the functions of engineering chain (EC) that deals with the time-to-market (T2M) issues. This article presents an advanced e-manufacturing model based on a decade-long creation of knowledge and practical experience of developing semiconductor manufacturing automation (SMA) systems at the Institute of Manufacturing Information and Systems (IMIS), National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan. As shown in Figure 1, the advanced e-manufacturing model has four core components: manufacturing execution system (MES), supply chain (SC), equipment engineering system (EES), and EC. The definition, mission, primary issues, and the feasible implementation frameworks of each component are described in this article. With this advanced e-manufacturing model, the characteristics and requirements of the semiconductor industry can be comprehended, and the missions of SMA can be accomplished.